Obama Calls Out Republicans for Silence on Trump's White House Press Ban
Former President Barack Obama criticized Republicans for not opposing President Donald Trump's decision to ban several news outlets from the White House, calling the move undemocratic during an event in Massachusetts. Obama said he was unsurprised by the ban on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, arguing that press freedom should be a nonpartisan issue. He noted that no substantial group of Republicans has publicly challenged the action, contrasting it with hypothetical backlash if he had banned Fox News. The White House defended the ban as a national-security measure after the outlets sued, citing First and Fifth Amendment violations. Obama's administration never banned outlets, though his Treasury Department briefly excluded Fox News from an interview in 2009 before reversing course.